
2.
What place was especially prepared as the bridal home of our first
parents? Gen. 2:8, 9, 15.
NOTE.—"The
home of our first parents was to be a pattern for other homes
as their children should go forth to occupy the earth. . . . In the surround-
ings of the holy pair was a, lesson for all time,—that true happiness is found,
not in the indulgence of pride and luxury, but in communion with God through
His created works. If men would give less attention to the artificial, and would
cultivate greater simplicity, they would come far nearer to answering the pur-
pose of God in their creation. Pride and ambition are never satisfied, but those
who are truly
wise
will find substantial and elevating pleasure in the sources
of enjoyment that God has placed within the reach of
all."—"Patriarchs and
Prophets,"
pp. 49, 50.
3.
What was to be man's occupation? Verse 15.
NorE.—"To the dwellers in Eden was committed the care of the garden,
`to dress it and to keep it' Their occupation was not wearisome, but pleasant
and invigorating. God appointed labor as a blessing to man, to occupy his
mind, to strengthen his body, and to develop his faculties. In mental and phys-
ical activity, Adam found one of the highest pleasures of his holy existence.
And when, as a result of his disobedience, he was driven from his beautiful
home, and forced to struggle with a stubborn soil to gain his daily bread, that
very labor, although widely different from his pleasant occupation in the gar-
den, was a safeguard against temptation, and a source of happiness. Those
who regard work as a curse, attended though it be with weariness and pain,
are cherishing an error. The rich often look down with contempt upon the
working classes; but this is wholly at variance with God's purpose in creating
man. What are the possessions of even the most wealthy, in comparison with
the heritage given to the lordly Adam? Yet Adam was not to be idle. Our
Creator, who understands what is for man's happiness, appointed Adam his
work. The true joy of life is found only by the working men and women. The
angels are diligent workers; they are the ministers of God to the children of
men. The Creator has prepared no place for the stagnating practice of
indo-
lence."—"Patriarchs and Prophets,"
p. 50.
4.
What was provided as man's food? Gen. 1:29.
5.
What kind of food was provided for the animals? Verse 30.
Nors.—It is not necessary to suppose that the original food of such animals
as the lion, the vulture, the serpent, and the anteater was that upon which they
now subsist. It has been found that at times, even now, almost every flesh-
eating animal likes to eat some form of vegetable food. All carnivorous ani-
mals seem to require more protein food that they can readily obtain from the
ordinary vegetable foods. We may conclude that back in the earth's primitive
condition, before the Flood destroyed the original stock of plants and the earth
lost its mild springlike climate,
every type of animal had some particular form
of plant food on which it lived. But the beasts were affected by the curse as
was man, and following the Flood, the instincts of the animal world, influenced
by the effects of the curse, became increasingly bloodthirsty. The Flood also
left them as it did man without their normal food, resulting in the more wide-
spread devouring of other animals for food. But with the "restitution of all
things" (Acts 3:21), the instincts of the animals will again be like those in the
Edenic world when God pronounced everything "very good." Isa. 11: 6-9 ;
65:25.
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